Cloudsplitter

Rating:
Summary: Coloring Within the Lines of American History
Review: History appeals to me most when the players are presented as three-dimensional people instead of flat characters composed of little more than names and dates. Though it surely warps the truth and fills the gaps with deliberate lies, I like historical fiction. In that no account of an event of historical importance is complete without subjective commentary and analysis, the truth doesn't have to be any more sullied if documented as fiction. The memorable details of the event become more meaningful to anyone who learns them in context, and good historical fiction can make that possible.

_Cloudsplitter_ is a novel about the radical, pre-Civil War abolitionist John Brown, as told by his son, Owen. The premise for this book is Owen's life story and confession to his long-dead father and the other raiders on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, and their subsequently failed attempt to incite a slave insurrection. He is writing all this for a Miss Mayo, a young woman who is assisting Oswald Garrison Villard in research for his book _John Brown: A Biography Fifty Years After_ (Boston, 1910).

Owen describes what it was like being John Brown's son, creating for the reader a picture of a deeply religious father with high moral standards and expectations for his children, as well as for himself. John Brown is a strong, compassionate, but demanding and commanding figure. Through Owen, Russel Banks shows us a man whose honest convictions about the immorality of slavery, and whose trust in knowing God's will, made him duty-bound and justified in freeing slaves. He was determined in his mission, even if it meant sacrificing the lives of guilty pro-slavers, the innocent, his sons and his supporters, and ultimately, even his own life.

Before reading this book I only had a fuzzy notion of who John Brown was. As I continued to read, I found myself wondering about the real story. I did some research and read additional accounts of the Pottawatomie Massacre in Kansas, and of the raid on Harpers Ferry. I read "A Plea for John Brown," a speech by Henry David Thoreau, and I came across articles and memoirs written after Brown's execution, extolling him as a martyr in a holy crusade against slavery. The intimate details of Bank's characters are products of his imagination, but I believe the character he portrays as John Brown is faithful with respect to the purportedly more factual accounts I've read.

This is an epic tale that requires more than a little patience. Banks is often repetitive and verbose in ways that do little to enhance plot and character development. At times I imagined taking a red pencil and striking through whole sections of text. On the other hand, Banks' writing, in spite of all the extra words, made me feel I knew both Owen and John Brown, and what it was like to live in this country during the years leading up to the Civil War. Also, Banks presents a hauntingly powerful portrait of a complex father-son relationship, and successfully provokes thought about the subtle differences between sanity and insanity.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent-but-ponderous read
Review: Cloudsplitter is the translation of the Indian word Tahawus, which is the Adirondack Peak that dwarfs John Brown's cabin in North Elba, NY. North Elba is the northern terminus of an important-if-obscure link to the Underground Railroad, and the eccentric John Brown, a bible-thumping abolitionist, uses this place as a jump-off point to wage war on slave owners from Kansas to Harper's Ferry, VA. The story teller is John Brown's son, Owen, himself an eccentric and the only survivor of the raid on the arsenal at Harper's Ferry in October of 1859. Owen is writing to clear the air on his father's sanity-and his credibility as a folk hero prior to the Civil War.

Ninety percent of the book is character development, not only of John "Osawatamie" Brown but also of his family-he sired twenty children-and especially Owen-the-Storyteller. If one is looking for the historical perspective of the incident at Harper's Ferry, one is not disappointed, but the incident itself gets little space for a novel of this size.

Russell Banks makes it very clear at the beginning of the book that this is a work of fiction-that he makes no attempt to document the history of the feats and defeat of John Brown...and yet he does just that. Banks has done his homework, and though the dialogue may not have existed, and the incidents may have been contrived to support the historical record, I have no doubts that the Brown family members are, essentially, as Banks describes. It's a weighty book that, at times, bogs down in the darkness of Owen Brown, the storyteller, but this book is one of the more important works I have read recently. (I immediately went out and bought several other Banks works.)

Rating:
Summary: Zealots
Review: This book is challenging because of its length. I enjoyed this tale about John Brown and his family. It illuminated a period of history about which I was only meagerly aware. Although the story is unevenly distributed with the Kansas raids and the actual Harpers Ferry incident flashing by, it does appear to be a fictionalized account based on a plethora of research. Banks does a good job a balancing the story between the fictional life account of son Owen and the facts of John Brown's life. What I found most interesting was that Brown was intensely religious. His war with the government permitting slavery was based on deeply held religious convictions. The contradiction between his actions and the religious beliefs is fascinating. As one reviewer noted, the crux of the tale is, "Do the ends justify the means?" Brown felt they did and paid the ultimate price for his zealotry. Probably Banks' most successful accomplishment is his ability to convincingly take us to 19th century and capture the everyday life and challenges of the Brown family. Large families, hard farm work, deadly illnesses, and financial worries all make us relate to the family characters. I found this a rewarding reading experience, but certainly a challenge. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: An easier read than its length would suggest.
Review: I anticipated trouble when I picked up "Cloudsplitter." Its length would suggest a massive epic, something along the lines of Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon" or Smiley's "Horse Heaven."

I shouldn't have worried. Russell Banks is nothing if not an approachable storyteller.

"Cloudsplitter" isn't my favorite of Banks' books (that distinction goes to "Affliction"), but it is near the top five. The story of abolitionist John Brown gets told from the fictional viewpoint of Brown's real-life son Owen, who is every bit a Banks protagonist, and who fits in well with Wade Whitehouse from "Affliction" and Bob Dubois from "Continental Drift": Tragic, uneasy and unsatisfied.

No doubt meticulously researched, Banks does a fabulous job of writing a book where it's difficult to tell where the history ends and the fiction begins. It's fascinating to enter the mindset of the Brown household, see John Brown ultimately become the man he would become famous and infamous for being, and have seen every step along the way.

At the very least, whether or not you're down with John Brown's history (I'm not), you have an enthralling read. At the very most, it's a reminder that, agree or disagree with John Brown's actions and philosophies, he was a human being.

Rating:
Summary: Not his best but still better than most anything else
Review: I've read criticisms of the book as overlong. Isn't that like when the king tell Mozart in Amadeus that there are too many notes? John Brown's life is history; big history, abolitionism, civil war, slavery, race relations, religious fervor. Mr. Banks does a terrifc job of creating an austere yet magisterial voice for Owen Brown. He gets us into the feeling of living out these big struggles. I also like how he gives us the big moment for Owen as different from the big historical moment at Harpers Ferry. It makes that historical moment feel more real, the fact that Owen's view of it is somewhat removed from both the action and the feeling. The other wonderful feature of the book is that it is not really interested in history but in character and family. This gives the book a liveliness and richness that would be lacking in a historical novel that mechanically went through the big events. This is a terrific book. That said, I've read two of Mr. Banks books that are at the very pinnacle of American fiction; THE SWEET HEREAFTER and AFFLICTION. This book didn't sear its memory into my psyche the way those books did. Banks has set such a high standard that even he can do exceptional work and fall short.

Rating:
Summary: Thickly worded. Somewhat unfulfilling.
Review: Cloud Splitter is a novel based on the life of abolitionist John Brown as told in retrospect by his aging son Owen. Written ostensibly as a series of seamless letters to a research assistant, the premise of Cloud Splitter becomes somewhat implausible. Owen, looking back 50+ years can miraculously recall with photographic detail thousands of the most mundane events/observations pinning them down to the exact day. This, despite the fact that he admits to never having kept a journal. It is this CD Rom-like recall that fills 758 pages as, apparently, there is nothing else to tell that can.

Still, the writing, if dense, is well done and the book is certainly interesting. Much is gleaned about life as it was in the mid-19th century. There are some gratuitous threads throughout the story such as Owen's apparent inability to get a firm grasp on his sexuality. Why this addition is necessary betrays further the lack of germane material within this fictitious account.

Banks' most admirable achievement is the description of the Adirondacks in upstate New York. Apparently, this is where Banks takes his yearly recreation thus explaining his power to describe the area so enchantingly. Once he leaves this area, however, his descriptive powers suffer accordingly as evidenced by his descriptions of Kansas, Ohio, et al.

All in all, Cloudsplitter is a book worth reading, but not one that should be placed head-and-shoulders above any other worthy effort. It is a take-it-or-leave-it sort of proposition which promises a decent read if you take it, but no calamitous loss if you don't.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Fiction, Emphasize FICTION
Review: Cloudsplitter is a sprawling novel based upon the meticulous research of Russell Banks into the life of Owen Brown. Owen was the last surviving son of domestic terrorist/abolitionist/mass murderer John Brown, infamous for his failed raid on the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The book takes its title from the name of a mountain near the Brown Family farm in upstate New York.
The story is presented as a series of letters that Owen is writing to a Miss Mayo (a common name in Southern and Middle Virginia), a research assistant, to try to answer a single question: was John Brown insane? The question is never really answered by Owen, but the reader has no doubt as to the answer.
With a book of Cloudsplitter's girth, the reader can expect many subplots. Most of Cloudsplitter's subplots are very engaging and easy to follow. However, one is rather disturbing; the subplot that seems to imply some sort of homosexual relationship between Owen and a freed black named Lyman Epps. Perhaps this is simply Banks's attempt to carry on the modern tendancy to normalize sodomy, or perhaps he simply wanted to disturb the reader. In any case, the story could have emphasized affection between the two men without resorting to implied sodomy. This is not the only incident to display Owen's assumed sexual confusion, as he has a clumsy encounter with a very young prostitute. Another subplot, this one far more interesting and useful, is the implication that a failed business trip to England drove John Brown to his more notorious career as domestic terrorist and mass murderer. This subplot solidifies the image of John Brown as a complete failure in business matters, while a nefarious success as a terrorist.
Cloudsplitter is a good read, though not Banks's best (The Sweet Hereafter and Continental Drift are better). Approach it with caution, and don't take it up unless you do intend to see it through.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific tale about a tumultuous terrorist
Review: This was a fantastic page turner! Both the detailed historical construct and rich character development made this one of my top...20 reads of all time. The significance of the label of terrorism in our anxious post 9/11 "why do they hate us" culture makes this historical tale very contemporary. What would you do to fight an egregiously immoral genocide? John Brown took matters into his own hands, and, guided by an equally contemporary religous fanaticism, became more of a vigalante than terrorist. Great family dynamics too. A must read.

Rating:
Summary: A meaningful and important book
Review: Russell Banks' Cloudsplitter is an important and engaging work of historical fiction, bringing John Brown and his family to life and exploring a period in American history in which the fate of the young nation truly hung in the balance. Many novels have been written of the Civil War years, by writers such as Jeffrey and Michael Shaara, as well as Charles Frazier. Banks instead brings the turbulent 1850's to life, complete with New England abolitionists, the Underground Railroad, and the political struggles culminating in some dubious "compromises" as more states entered the sharply-divided Union.

The structure of the book is unique, as the novel is comprised of a long narrative by surviving son Owen Brown, his father's right hand man during the years leading up to the deadly raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. Owen is supposedly gathering his papers and setting forth his story to a fictional "Miss Mayo", who, along with her boss, is working on a definitive biography of John Brown several decades after his death. Owen feels that his father has traditionally been misunderstood, branded an insane terrorist by some and a holy martyr by others, while Owen attempts to humanize him and the rest of the family.

Russell Banks apparently spent years in painstaking research on this book, and you wonder how much of the story is pure fiction, and how much of Owen's narrative is based on historical fact. Of course Banks would likely tell you that such inquiries are besides the point, although I will wonder whether John Brown really did write a Horatio Alger-like pamphlet for African Americans titled "Sambo's Mistakes". I absolutely loved the scene in which John Brown realizes his son Owen has stolen something, and rather than whip the boy the elder Brown makes Owen whip him, as punishment for John Brown's failings as a father which would lead his son to commit such an offense. Heavy stuff indeed.

Many reviewers have commented upon the length of the book, and while the language was never too difficult or tedious to get through, I must admit the Banks takes his time setting up the story, as the pace does not really pick up considerably until about page 400. There are meaningful episodes earlier, including John Brown's efforts to escort espaped slaves to Canada on the Underground Railroad, his family tragedies, and his land speculations and failures. We also see glimpses of other historical figures including Frederick Douglass and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who probably did interact with Brown in some fashion in real life.

Banks moves skillfully toward the climax of the book, throwing in references to future events in "Bloody Kansas" or Harpers Ferry to give the whole book a sense of foreboding. However the ultimate payoff was a little light to me, which is my reservation about giving the book 5 stars. By making surviving son Owen Brown his narrator, and by telling us that Owen's job is not to chronicle historical events (about which much has supposedly been written) but instead to concentrate on personal reminisces, Banks limits himself a bit. By the end, at Harpers Ferry, the reader (at least this reader) wants a little more historical detail than Owen can provide, due to his location and status during the culminating raid. Everybody knows John Brown's fate, but after 740 pages leading up to the great showdown, I wanted a little more than I got, (maybe words to his captors or specific details as to the fates of other members of the party). Ultimately what made the novel effective for the first 7/8ths of the book was the thing that brought the ending down a peg in my estimation.

Anyway, for those like myself who enjoy historical novels and who want to learn more about one of the most notorious and fascinating figures in American history, this is a monumental work. In reading Cloudsplitter, you understand the family dynamics which led Brown's sons to follow him into a maelstrom, you get a glimpse into the belief system of John Brown and his atheist son, and you wait with him for the great slave uprising which he thought would accompany his raid on the federal weapons arsenal at Harpers Ferry, as part of his campaign to rid the nation of the scourge of slavery. I am glad I read Cloudsplitter, but unlike some of my co-reviewers here I sure don't plan on doing it again.

Rating:
Summary: beautiful
Review: Rare is the book that makes you consider the intent of its language instead of the structure of its narrative.

I read this novel while on an extended post-collegiate camping trip through the desert in Arizona. Its language, I found, was appropriate for the vistas I encountered in the desolation of the Southwest.

I would comment further, but unfortunately it has been a while since reading this novel, and I do not want to be disingenuous here and relate more than I recall accurately.